I thumbed through the mail, thinking of times not so long ago when the mail contained bills that needed to be paid. Most times now, the short pile of mail is a couple pieces of junk mail, applications for credit cards and a few store flyers.
On this day, the 2020 Census arrived, and I almost overlooked it as it looked like a reminder and I was thinking the Census, like most other aspects of life, was delayed, like Income Tax filing. For some reason, however, I saved it and pulled it out when I paid bills.
This time, I went to a website and put in a code, thinking how different my life was 10 years ago when I answered a packet full of questions on paper. My process and my life were very different 10 years ago. Now, my household, is just me.
The process was quick with a couple of questions about my age and living situation. Yet, I sat there letting my mind drift back to where I was and what I was doing in 200, 1990, 1980, 1970, 1960....before I hit the submit button.
3 comments:
Your slice shows so much through the delivery of the mail. From interacting with the mailman to reflecting at decade increments. It seems like those reflections might become a future slice. I also got my census and I'm thinking it may be what I write about tomorrow. Thanks for giving me an idea! Be well.
The census is definitely a time to reflect on the past. Things are always different, but looking at them in ten-year chunks really makes that apparent. Thank you your writing!
Thank you for reminding me to fill out my census information. I got two notices in the mail in the past two weeks, and they had simply gone into a pile of "later." I also felt a pang when having to report that this year my household is only me. Other questions made me think: the one on race and origin made me remember that the census used to assign what we now call "ethnicity" to "race," so many Americans 100 years ago thought Jews were a race, as well as Italians, Russians, Germans, etc. It felt like that concept was being reawakened with the "race and origin" question.
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